What Is Laser Eye Surgery?
Laser eye surgery has corrected the site of millions of people all over the world and the number of people having it done continues to grow. If you are interested in having laser eye surgery, then it likely that you are either short sighted, long sighted or have astigmatism. Laser eye surgery can now treat all 3 of these conditions meaning very few people are unsuitable for the procedure.
Exactly how laser eye surgery makes you see perfectly can sometimes be difficult to understand. Explaining how you obtain perfect vision is helpful in understanding exactly what laser eye surgery is doing. In order to have perfect vision the light entering your eye must focus exactly on the back of your eye which is called the retina. The retina is the part of the eye which processes this light and turns it in to vision.
If you are long sighted, the light entering your eye is focussed behind your retina. If you are short sighted, the light entering your eye falls in front of the retina. Astigmatism is caused by the shape of your eye being different in one direction compared with the other, resulting in blurred vision. Special lenses are needed to correct this eye sight problem.
Whether you are long sighted, short sighted or have astigmatism, the principle of how laser eye surgery works is the same. The laser has to refocus the light to make sure it falls exactly onto the retina. With long sighted prescriptions, the laser will change the focus of the light from behind the retina to ensure it falls on the retina. With short sighted prescriptions, the laser will change the focus of the light from in front of the retina to ensure it falls onto the retina. If you have astigmatism, the laser will eliminate the difference in power across your eye and then refocus it onto your retina.
It is important when deciding to have laser eye surgery that you choose a clinic and a surgeon who you feel comfortable with. Make sure you feel fully confident with all the support staff and that your surgeon is happy to answer all your questions. Be sure your surgeon is experienced in the exact procedure that you are having done and ask what his/her success rates are.
Before committing to having the surgery, make sure you have checked the credentials of your laser eye surgeon. Ideally your surgeon should have had specialist training in laser eye treatment and have been qualified for over 3 years. It is also important that your surgeon has carried out over 400 refractive procedures in the last year.
Once you have had the laser eye surgery, you will no longer need glasses or contact lenses, providing the surgery was a success. About 5-10% of people do however need a re-treatment as the prescription can sometimes return. Most laser eye surgery clinics will do this re-treatment for free providing that it is within a certain time period from first having your surgery. Not everyone is suitable for a retreatment so this will need to be discussed with your laser eye surgeon.
The recovery period of your laser eye treatment will vary from one person to the next as everyone heals at different speeds. There are however differences between the speed of recovery between lasik and lasek. People having lasik can typically return to work the next day following surgery and there is very little discomfort during the recovery period. Lasek however can be associated with moderate pain for the first few days following surgery and most people need 4-5 days off work.
Treatmentsaver.com is an independent and unbiased website that specialises in everything about laser eye surgery. With laser eye surgery clinics throughout the UK ranging from laser eye surgery cardiff to laser eye surgery Bristol you are certain to find the right clinic for you.
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